Napa Wine Train’s BART pairing, sunset chaser: a limited express?

With all the drama around actual and threatened BART strikes this summer, I almost forgot to raise a glass to the Napa Wine Train’s new connection to the transit system, which makes it even easier for visitors to go carless in the congested valley. And as the court-ordered, 60-day cooling-off period between union workers and BART management that began Sunday winds down, so too does the chance to enjoy sunset along with vineyward views from dinner trains, regardless of how passengers got there.

The Wine Train’s new shuttle, which debuted earlier this summer, runs between its Napa depot and the North Concord/Martinez BART station. The 9:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. “premium motorcoach” departures from BART are timed to arrive for lunch and dinner Wine Train trips and related winery tour packages. It costs $30 round trip, exclusive of BART fare, with advance reservations required.

The Wine Train already has a shuttle between the San Francisco Bay Ferry terminal in Vallejo and its Napa station that’s convenient for lunch trains, with ferry service weekday mornings and bus service on weekends from S.F.’s Ferry Building; it costs $48 for the entire round trip and has to be reserved at least a day in advance.

As for a sunset chaser with your evening wine, note that the dinner trains depart at 6:30 p.m. and return at 9:30 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. Although the current sunset around 8 p.m. allows plenty of time to view the valley in a golden glow, note that by next month the sun sets around 7:20 p.m. and in two months’ time at 6:35 p.m. (per the NOAA-based data on Gaisma.com; the Napa Wine Train also lists sunset times for the first of each month here.)

The three-hour Wine Train tours start at $99 for barbecue lunch in the non air-conditioned Silverado car, $114 for gourmet lunch or dinner in the air-conditioned restored Pullmans. It’s not the cheapest way to enjoy Napa Valley wines, but at least its public transit connections may take the sting out picking a designated driver.